Small Point Pullover

The Small Point Pullover.

At last year’s Asilomar retreat, I decided to step outside my usual wheelhouse and play with a new type of sweater construction. Small Point continues this trend: This sweater is knit from hem-to-hem, all in one piece.

This construction perfectly matched the feel I wanted from the Small Point design. The coast of Maine is rocky and breezy, and Small Point beach in my hometown is definitely a representation of that. If you’re going to be spending a lot of time on the beach, you want something casual, and layer-friendly. Warm, but not so stiff you can’t throw a frisbee or chase the tide.

The hem-to-hem one-piece construction winds up producing a sweater with a feeling that’s somewhere between a drop-shoulder sweater and a dolman – the lines are that of a drop shoulder, with generous (but not ridiculous) armholes, but the movement and freedom inside the garment is great, like you’d experience with a dolman. The lack of seam in the shoulder area produces an incredibly comfortable, beautifully relaxed structure to the garment. It layers well, it wears well on its own, and looks utterly fantastic in a lightweight wool.

Add some kicky stripes in beautifully matched colors, and the sweater practically knits itself – it took me well under a week to work up this sample! And I’ve been wearing it since.

I used Eden Cottage Yarns Bowland DK for the sample – a luscious, luminous sport-weight Blue Faced Leicester. I used the colors “Pennine Mist” and “Steel” for this sample, but honestly, I had a hard time narrowing down my choices! I definitely recommend this yarn for this garment – and if you’re looking for a source here in the states, our retreat vendor Yarn Culture carries a great stock.

Ready for the technical specs?

This sweater is knit in a single piece from the front hem, up over the shoulders, and down toward the back hem. Sleeves are created with a line of cast-ons; they’re ended with a line of bind-offs. After you’ve worked the sweater and bound off, the side and sleeve seams are a quick job.

When choosing a size, please choose a size that’s at least 2 – 4” above your upper torso. I’m wearing this sweater with 3” of ease in the upper torso, and could have happily gone to the next size up as well. There’s waist shaping on the back of the sweater only to keep things from being too boxy – but fundamentally, you’ll be most comfortable in this construction style if you have plenty of room.